Vampire Hunter D: The Gaskell Guardians
by sarahjocats
Summary: D is asked by a family of monster hunters to help them defeat a local Noble after four of them are victimized in the span of three days.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

The faint spring wind carried the scent of freshly-spilled blood across the western outskirts of the northern Frontier town of Gaskell. It had been drifting from the center of a moonlit meadow there where the corpse of a young female monster hunter lay collapsed in a patch of milky-white clover, a locating beacon activated on her hip, and her firearms lying at her side – undischarged.

A cloaked figure in black mounted atop a cyborg horse approached to investigate the body, drawn by the stench of death. The mysterious figure's face was obscured by a wide-brimmed traveller's hat and a scarf which concealed his identity from anyone or anything that may have been surveying the morbid scene.

The figure gazed down at the monster hunter's body lying in the clover. Grasped firmly in one of her hands was an armoured oak stake which penetrated the front of her chest and exited out of her back. Her other hand was pressed against a different kind of wound – two fresh puncture marks along the nape of her neck. The kiss of the nobility.

"Did herself in, huh," a voice seemed to rasp from where the figure's left hand was resting. "Quick decision too, that bite hadn't even stopped bleeding yet. Just happened. Shame, what a shame."

The figure in black made no effort to respond. Instead, he gripped his mount's reins and began to guide the cyborg horse away from the lifeless woman. No sooner than he had begun to turn he detected the sound of three natural horses, the pounding of their hooves reverberating in the earth as they carried their riders at top speed towards the meadow. One after the other the riders, clearly other young monster hunters although they were dressed in simple Frontier garb, appeared in the clearing and circled him. He remained so motionless and silent it was as if he was completely unaware that he was surrounded by experienced killers.

"You," a tanned, heavily-muscled man with slicked blonde hair and a sculpted beard growled at the figure in black, "identify yourself... and make it hasty." He placed one hand on the end of a retractable staff that hung at his side and glared at the unknown man, anger welling within him.

If the cloaked figure even breathed, it wasn't audible. The other hunters, another man and a woman, were silent as well.

"Buddy, that's my sister over there. And our brother was with her. You better start to fucking talk," the blonde man barked as he gestured at the corpse in the clover.

The other two hunters drew their weapons when the figure chose to ignore the blonde man's commands again; the woman two curved blades, one from each hip, and the other man a laser blaster.

"I'm no one important," the mysterious stranger stated softly as he tugged his scarf down with one delicate finger, revealing his face. "It appears your sister was the victim of a Noble. I can't speak for your brother as I wasn't here for their encounter." His voice was cold and haunting, and his pale visage was exquisitely beautiful, bordering on divine. His mournful eyes were particularly striking. He then began to guide his cyborg horse out of the meadow again, disregarding the three deadly hunters that were stationed around him.

"No one important?" The woman questioned the gorgeous stranger, releasing her blades and guiding her horse to stand in front of his, blocking its path. She had a small figure, alluring features, and kept her chestnut hair in an intricate braided bun. "I recognize you. You're that famous dhampir hunter, D. Have to be, can't mistake that face of yours. We've heard a lot of stories about you." She glared at him intently. It would be easy to become entranced by his beauty but she resisted; there was still danger from another potential vampire attack while her group was out in the open, and she was grieving for her dead sister and missing brother. "We came when the beacon went off but we were too late."

"Too late again," the other monster hunter declared, a tortured look on his face. This man was just as well-muscled as the blonde one but he was clean-shaven, pale, and had thick, messy black hair that hung over his eyes and across his shoulders. He dismounted, gestured to his horse for it to stand in place, and went over to attend to his deceased sister. Bodies left out unattended were quick to be dissolved by flesh-eating mists so the dead had to be recovered quickly if there was to be anything left to bury.

The blonde, bearded man manoeuvred his own horse to be closer to the living sister in an automatic defensive gesture. He swallowed hard. "If you are who we think you are, let us hire you. We could use the extra help. I ain't too big of a man to ask for it when I need it. I'm sure you could use the extra cash too. I'll even overpay you if that's what you need," he promised. "Sorry for the rough welcome, by the way. I'm Gerhardt Bellamy. Over there's our brother Jol Annaleis. With a stake through her kind heart is our youngest sister Eve Anderson. This lady you're speaking to is our sister Rhea Turner. We're the last of the Gaskell Guardians. Tell me – we got you pegged right? Are you the vampire hunter D?"

D nodded. His movement was almost imperceptible.

"D. My newest friend. You up to it?" Gerhardt forced a hopeful smile.

Again, D was silent.

"D,"Rhea prodded. "We're a family of hunters but we don't have experience with Nobles. They were only active here before we were all born, but there's one back now that's preying on our family. Four of us have been taken out in three days," she sighed in both sadness and frustration, looking over at Eve who was packed into a preservation sack and slung over the back of Jol's horse. "Our brother Toro Kedves is missing. Our sister Rohda Lloyd is missing. Our brother Turin Wright is missing. Our sister here is dead -"

"His name is 'Lord' Aviel Morreau and we wanna fuck him up bad," Jol suddenly interrupted, mounting his horse. "Local legend says that you killed his sister about 500 years ago. Maybe you're familiar with the bastard. If he keeps this pace up the rest of us will be gone within the week and there won't be anyone left to defend Gaskell from everything else."

The family waited anxiously for D to say something.

"Why target your family," D said quietly.

"We have a guess," Jol murmured. "We can talk about it more at our station. It's just two miles from here. If you're in, follow us. If you're not, get the hell out of Gaskell."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

The deadly party of four soon arrived outside the station that Jol had mentioned. It was a small complex with an electrified anti-lifeform barrier around it located almost outside Gaskell's eastern border and it served as the family's base of operations. On the way there Gerhardt explained to D that all of them lived there together and that they had been hired by the town to monitor and defend it 24/7. Each of the monster hunters would typically do a 12-hour shift on their own, ensuring that someone was always patrolling and ready to be dispatched to calls that would come in from the town. This arrangement had been working well for many years, making the town one of the most secure places in the entire Frontier. For this, they were paid well.

To access the complex you had to utilize an electronic pass at the main gate, the only section of the property's exterior that wasn't electrified. D was given Eve's. The passes belonging to the missing family members were deactivated.

Inside the complex were several small structures. Some could be easily identified as homes while others were clearly for storage of vehicles, tools and weapons. There was also a greenhouse, a sheltered generator, a grazing pasture with livestock, a large water cistern, and a garden where Frontier-hardy fruits and vegetables could be seen growing. The family's station was self-sustaining so that no one ever had to venture into town unless it was business-related.

Once inside, D and the three siblings tied up their mounts. Jol, who had the closest relationship to Eve, took her body to be prepared for burial. Gerhardt stayed with D, and Rhea donned her full hunter gear to go back out into Gaskell. Someone always had to be on patrol outside. There was no time to stay home and grieve. Only time to kill.

Gerhardt led D to his own modest home. "Welcome to the team. You can rest here while we're working together; they don't let dhampirs stay in town. I'll bunk up with Jol." Gerhardt unlocked the front door and ushered D inside.

"That will be why your station is so isolated," D stated firmly.

Gerhardt shifted uncomfortably. "Yeah, man. You're a sharp one. We're all goddamned half-breeds here too." He stared at the beautiful hunter standing in the threshold of his home for a few moments and then followed him inside, shutting the door behind him. "You wanted to know why we're getting picked off. It's got to do with that."

D did not respond. He simply walked up to a window and gazed outside. From there, he spotted Rhea heading out of the complex on horseback. She had donned a dark grey armoured bodysuit, her two curved blades still resting at her sides, her eyes scanning the landscape for movement and irregularities. He continued to watch in silence until she and her mount disappeared over the crest of a hill. A rough voice that only he could hear then chuckled to itself, finding the lone girl heading out into the night after a vampire attack to her almost-certain doom to be tragically funny.

Gerhardt cleared his throat. "Long story short. We've all got different mothers. Humans, dhampirs, mutants. All from Gaskell, though. They were all part of _the hidden_ at one point, taken from the town, forced to live up in Castle Morreau, all sent back months later knocked up by you guessed who. Had us all one by one in town. Mothers then had to live segregated from everyone else. Hated. Feared. Treated like shit. I'm sure you know how it goes with _the hidden_." 

D said nothing as usual.

"I'm the oldest, 155," Gerhardt continued. "Eve was the youngest, 98. The land we're on now was where they kept our moms and us. After my mother passed I became a hunter. Made a pact with the town. Said we'll stay out here, prevent this all from happening again. Built up our complex. Hasn't happened since. Lord Morreau never even showed his face again after Eve was born, and by then I was already a hunter for a few years. But, seems he's back now all of sudden. Picking us off while we're out patrolling at night. Eve's body is the only one we've found so far. Not sure what twisted fuckery he's up to with everyone else we couldn't locate. Feel like we're all just some perverted experiment." Gerhardt growled and slammed his fist through a wall, his hand exiting on the other side. Pulling it out, he stared at it as if inspecting a wound but there was no damage to be seen. Dhampir regeneration was swift. "Buddy, time ain't on our side," he seethed. "I gotta know what's going on and stop this bastard! I only have Jol and Rhea left. This isn't how we're goin' out. So, rest up. We're heading out to Castle Morreau at sunrise." He then looked up at D again, who was still staring wordlessly out the window. "Help yourself to any supplies you need," he muttered. "I'm gonna go bury my sister."

No more was said. Gerhardt left, shutting the door behind him. D opened the window and listened to the sounds of the night pour in. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

The night ended without incident and Rhea returned unharmed. Jol notified the town that they were going to Castle Morreau. The town's inhabitants would have to defend themselves from anything that came while its monster hunters were gone; the mayor argued with the plan at first, then said that he would get started hiring new hunters as soon as he could since the team would all be dead before they even got inside the castle. There wasn't much conversation after that.

Rhea stood at the foot of Eve's freshly dug grave while she waited for Jol and Gerhardt. There were no tears. Only anger. She tossed a single Frontier daisy across the moist dirt.

D approached and stood next to her. The sun was coming up over the horizon.

"Do me a favour," Rhea murmured after a moment of silence, scowling. "If I fail... if I get bitten, kill me. And make it quick. I don't want to be a thrall. My brothers won't be able to do it."

D, as usual, was silent.

Rhea sighed. "You don't talk much. Is every other vampire hunter like you?"

"No," D replied. "And you'll only get bitten if you wander off. Stay close. Nobles are far more dangerous than what you're used to dealing with. Don't let your guard down."

She gazed at his features, bathed red from the light of the sunrise. He had an unearthly beauty to him. "I won't."

Across the complex, only the faint sounds of the family's livestock could be heard, stirring from their slumber as the sun rose. Then, the sound of a door opening. Gerhardt emerged from Jol's home, and Jol swiftly followed suit. They both wore bodysuits similar to what Rhea had on, but they were set up to suit each individual's needs. Gerhardt had his retractable staff attached to his belt. It could extend up to forty feet instantly. He also had a short knife in his boot and a stake gun packed in a holster on his hip. Jol had a hooded cloak pulled around him; he was the most susceptible of the three to sunlight. He also had two laser blasters. He didn't want anything else.

"Off we go!" Gerhardt shouted as he came outside. "D, my friend, we'll guide the way there. Once we arrive we'll be relying on your expertise."

D nodded.

"Okay. Move out," Gerhardt commanded. The group of four entered the pasture to retrieve their horses, mounted, and headed out to make the painful sunlit journey to Castle Morreau.

The castle itself was concealed from view by an overgrown forest that surrounded it nearly completely except for a wide, straight road that led through the trees towards the main gate. On the outside the castle appeared to be decrepit and crumbling as many of the ancient abodes of the Nobility were. It was a reminder to all who viewed it that the Noble influence on the world was fading but that the Nobility were still a presence to be feared on the Frontier.

"Doesn't need much of an introduction," Jol muttered as he glared at the castle. "Castle Morreau. D, time for you to take over." He was sweating profusely. The sun was torture for Jol, and it was now directly overhead. Gerhardt and Rhea were uncomfortable but managing without issue. "The sooner we're inside, the better," he panted.

"We'll enter through the main entrance," D stated plainly and began to guide his cyborg horse directly towards the castle. There was no indication of fear or uncertainly on his fair features.

"D, you daft bastard," Gerhardt stuttered in disbelief. "You think Lord Aviel's just gonna let us stroll casually up to his front door? You got a death wish?"

"You said that you haven't located the bodies of your missing family members," D said calmly. Gerhardt nodded. "He's clearly collecting you all alive for a purpose. He has no reason to cause you harm here. It's in his best interest to allow you in."

The siblings looked at each other but said nothing. D's guidance was sound.

"D," Gerhardt addressed him finally. "I can't really argue, buddy. But if you're wrong – and we all get killed and this bastard is the one that ends up surviving - I'm gonna come back from the grave and then I'm gonna bring you back from the grave and I'm gonna kill you all over again. Understood?"

"You are welcome to try," D murmured, and pressed on. "Follow closely."

Rhea whistled and her mount followed D's. Gerhardt and Jol followed afterwards after exchanging dubious glances.

As the group of four passed down the forest road they heard neither birdsong nor the sound of any other animal – only the sound of hooves as their horses pressed forward. No natural beasts remained there, just the genetically engineered predatory monstrosities that the Nobility had manufactured long ago. Every so often a pair of eyes would glare out from the forested darkness at the travellers but nothing ever ventured out into the road. It appeared that D was right. No harm would come to the family of monster hunters on their way inside.

They soon arrived at the main gate, the doors of which parted immediately upon the group's arrival. They then entered into a courtyard which was in a terrible state of disrepair. There were towering statues of beautiful Nobles and unidentifiable beasts missing heads, arms, torsos; dense, rotten gardens, fountains full of unidentifiable sludge, stone partitions crumbling into dust. It was as if no one had resided there for hundreds of years.

Gerhardt spit on the ground. "Filthy, cursed place," he grunted.

Then, a deafening creaking sound. The group of four oriented themselves to the front door of the castle, which was now open.

In the doorway stood the three missing siblings – Turin, Rodha and Toro.


End file.
